Sanitary shoe.



SANITARY SHOE.

APPLlcATloN FILED MAY21,1915.

l ,l 83,935 i Patented May 23,' 1916.

ff, iM 11R H En 1 .PATENT GFFICE- f I" HonAcnis. wEN'rwonrm-or ronTLANn,MAINE, AssIGNon To BnLGnAnn suon 'MANUFACTURING GOMI'ANY', 0F PORTLAND,MAINE, CORPORATION OF MAINE. l'

To all Mmm t may concern.'

Be it lmown that I, HoRAoE-B. Wnrnr-V WORTH, a citizenofthe UnitedStates, and' residing at Portland, in the State of Maine, .l

particularly, to a shoe having. a novelliller. 10 A shoe, and moreparticularly, a welt shoe,

has a space between the insole and thev out-f sole, which is usuallyfilled. The filler employed heretofore has usually been a groundcork-glue mixture.

responding to the bones in the' feet, the

lastic iller'will give,- causing a permanent impression of the foot .onthe insole. This causes the pressureto be' directly trans- 'mitted tothe outsole,and since 'this' pres-f sure is transmitted in spots, theoutsole will be worn in spots along the lines of greatest pressure. vsupport to the outsole, since it has 110 re, Asiliency, and is,moreover, plastic, and'since a bending pressure often comes laterally yonan insole, the result will be thatthe sole will round, thus not onlypresentingv an unatf tractive appearance, but lalso causingv :un-

usual wear.` v

A shoe should be comparatively flexible longitudinally `but comparativel'rigid laterally,in ordertokeep the sole at. Acom-` position iiller doesnot, however, give this ateral support. 'Moreover, such a llerhas l nocushioning effect atall, so that theshoe.

will be hard andv uncomfortable to tender feet. Moreover, alcompositionfiller gives no ventilation, butholds the moisture in the shoe, and,moreover, since it is put-in moist',

'the shoe will not be dryand sanitary. fMoreover, the insole, ller andoutsole eccome 'matted together, so as to form, in effect, an

moisture from the outer sole, as well asthe ducted from one to theother. Since there is no opportunity for ventilation, and, therefore,evaporation ofthis moisture, the 'dry- `ing will be slow, rso that theresultant shoe is not sanitary. i

Some of the objects of this invention,

therefore, are to provide a' shoe, the filler of 55' which has thedesired characteristics of flexibility longitudinally and comparative I`Specification of Letters Patent. i Application mea may 21,1915."seriai1sroj.'29,1"fa

Since-such a .filler has i 15' no ber, it will mat down. As the pressure-of the foot on the insole comes in lines corfilled with a filler. e

Such a liller can give no-lateral integral mass. `Under theseconditions,

' 4 Further objects will appear from they detall description taken inconnection with the accompanying' drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is' a longitudinal section of a shoeembodying this invention;Fig. 2 is a Patented' May 2 3, 1916.

I :rigidity transversely, ,which acts as a cushlon, permits ventilation,and is sanitary..

bottomA View with the outsole removed,'the.

`view being taken onthe line 2-2,'Fig. 1;

1 Figs?) is a section on the line 3-4-3, Fig. 1; v

4'is an enlarged detail of Fig. 2'; and,

Fig. 5 is al1-enlarged detail section on the line 5 5, Fig. 3.

Referring tothe accompanying drawing,

10v designates the insole, 11 vthe upper, 12

the welt, and 13 the outsole of a welt shoe. These parts 'may be ofusual construction, and made in a manner well known to those skilled inthe art., It will be noted that a space' is left between the insole andthe outsole, which, 1 as Vdescribed The'iiller comprises bundles 20 ofiibrous s talks,such as. cured grass, these bundles 4being aboutthree-s'ixteenths,` of an inch in Q diameter and stitched or woventogether bythreads 21. The filler may be made to conabove, is usuallyform .to the space inside of the channel lip `of the insole, but thebundles are. arranged with the stalks transversely of the shoe sole.,yA.

A` cover 22, of linen'or similar fabric,`may

be cemented to one `:face of the stitched Y bundles.- In the manufactureof the shoe,

the ller 'is laid on the insole with the fab# "ric 22 next to theinsole, and the outsole is then attached in the usualmanner.

. The filler .acts as a'natural cushion, since f it is .entirelyresilient, and it will, after being compressed, spring. back. Since the.

stalks are arranged cr'ossvwise ofthe sole,

the longitudinal flexibility of the shoe sole 'is not-impaired.Transversely, however, the

bundles of the unbroken stalks form a comparatively rigidbacking, vsothat consider able resistance is ollered 'to transverse flex ture "ofthe sole. vThe sole will, therefore,

retain its flatl shape, and will not become*`` y los Since this iller isof open construction providing air spaces, it allows a betterventilation, and, in case the insole and outsole should become wet, theywill dry out much more readily, since thereis no direct contact betweenthe soles, but thereis always an air space containing a dry filler. The

shoe is, therefore, entirely sanitary, and has f great advantages from amedical standpoint. v

It is obvious that various changes may be made in the details ofconstruction with'- out departing from the spirit of this invention, andit is, therefore, to be understood that this invention is not to belimited to the specific construction shown and described.

Havin thus describedthe invention what is claime is:

1. A shoe comprising an insole, an outsole` and a resilient Eller ofconnected absorbent ibrous stalks between said insole and said outsole,the stalks of said filler eX- tending transversely of the shoe, therebyrendering kthe shoe comparatively rigid transversely and comparativelyflexible lon-` gitudinally. y

2. A shoe comprising an insole, an outsole, and a filler of cured grassbetween said insole and said outsole, the stalks of said ller extendingtransversely of the shoe, thereby rendering the shoe comparatively rigidtransversely and comparatively iexible longitudinally.

. 3. A shoe comprising an insole, an outsole, and a filler of connectedbundles of cured grass, said bundles being arranged transversely of theshoe, thereby rendering the shoe comparatively rigid transversely andcomparatively flexible longitudinally.

4f. A shoe comprising an insole, an outl sole, and a filler ofconnectedbers between said insole and said outsole, said filler havingits fibers so arranged as to be comparatively rigid transversely of theshoe and comparatively flexible longitudinally of the shoe.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature this 4th day of May, 1915.

HORACE B. wENrwoRTi-if

